Lean Tools

The following is a collection of 25 essential lean tools. Each tool is distilled into a simple description of what it is and how it helps. Lean Tool What Is It? Organize the work area:

How Does It Help?

5S

Sort (eliminate that which is not needed) Set In Order (organize remaining items) Eliminates waste that results from a Shine (clean and inspect work poorly organized work area (e.g. area) wasting time looking for a tool). Standardize (write standards for above)

Sustain (regularly apply the standards) Visual feedback system for the plant Acts as a real-time communication floor that indicates production status, tool for the plant floor that brings Andon alerts when assistance is needed, and immediate attention to problems as empowers operators to stop the they occur so they can be instantly production process. addressed. Identify which part of the manufacturing Improves throughput by strengthening Bottleneck process limits the overall throughput and the weakest link in the manufacturing Analysis improve the performance of that part of process. the process. Manufacturing where work-in-process Eliminates many forms of waste (e.g. smoothly flows through production with Continuous Flow inventory, waiting time, and minimal (or no) buffers between steps of transport). the manufacturing process. Promotes a deep and thorough A philosophy that reminds us to get out understanding of real-world Gemba (The of our offices and spend time on the manufacturing issues by first-hand Real Place) plant floor the place where real action observation and by talking with plant occurs. floor employees. A form of production scheduling that Reduces lead times (since each Heijunka (Level purposely manufactures in much smaller product or variant is manufactured Scheduling) batches by sequencing (mixing) product more frequently) and inventory (since variants within the same process. batches are smaller). Hoshin Kanri Align the goals of the company Ensures that progress towards strategic (Policy (Strategy), with the plans of middle goals is consistent and thorough Deployment) management (Tactics) and the work eliminating the waste that comes from performed on the plant floor (Action). poor communication and inconsistent

direction. Design equipment to partially automate the manufacturing process (partial Jidoka automation is typically much less (Autonomation) expensive than full automation) and to automatically stop when defects are detected. Pull parts through production based on customer demand instead of pushing parts through production based on Just-In-Time projected demand. Relies on many lean (JIT) tools, such as Continuous Flow, Heijunka, Kanban, Standardized Work and Takt Time. A strategy where employees work Kaizen together proactively to achieve regular, (Continuous incremental improvements in the Improvement) manufacturing process. A method of regulating the flow of goods both within the factory and with Kanban (Pull outside suppliers and customers. Based System) on automatic replenishment through signal cards that indicate when more goods are needed. After Jidoka, workers can frequently monitor multiple stations (reducing labor costs) and many quality issues can be detected immediately (improving quality).

Highly effective in reducing inventory levels. Improves cash flow and reduces space requirements. Combines the collective talents of a company to create an engine for continually eliminating waste from manufacturing processes. Eliminates waste from inventory and overproduction. Can eliminate the need for physical inventories (instead relying on signal cards to indicate when more goods need to be ordered). The best manufacturing KPIs:

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

Metrics designed to track and encourage progress towards critical goals of the organization. Strongly promoted KPIs can be extremely powerful drivers of behavior so it is important to carefully select KPIs that will drive desired behavior.

Are aligned with top-level strategic goals (thus helping to achieve those goals) Are effective at exposing and quantifying waste (OEE is a good example) Are readily influenced by plant floor employees (so they can drive results)

Muda (Waste) Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Anything in the manufacturing process that does not add value from the customers perspective. Framework for measuring productivity loss for a given manufacturing process. Three categories of loss are tracked:

Eliminating muda (waste) is the primary focus of lean manufacturing. Provides a benchmark/baseline and a means to track progress in eliminating waste from a manufacturing process. 100% OEE means perfect production (manufacturing only good parts, as fast as possible, with no downtime).

Availability (e.g. down time) Performance (e.g. slow cycles)

Quality (e.g. rejects) An iterative methodology for implementing improvements:

Applies a scientific approach to making improvements:

PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act)

Plan (establish plan and expected results) Do (implement plan) Check (verify expected results achieved) Act (review and assess; do it again)

Plan (develop a hypothesis) Do (run experiment) Check (evaluate results) Act (refine your experiment; try again)

It is difficult (and expensive) to find Design error detection and prevention all defects through inspection, and Poka-Yoke into production processes with the goal correcting defects typically gets (Error Proofing) of achieving zero defects. significantly more expensive at each stage of production. A problem solving methodology that focuses on resolving the underlying problem instead of applying quick fixes Helps to ensure that a problem is truly Root Cause that only treat immediate symptoms of eliminated by applying corrective Analysis the problem. A common approach is to action to the root cause of the ask why five times each time moving a problem. step closer to discovering the true underlying problem. Reduce setup (changeover) time to less than 10 minutes. Techniques include:

Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)

Convert setup steps to be external (performed while the process is running) Simplify internal setup (e.g. replace bolts with knobs and levers) Eliminate non-essential operations

Enables manufacturing in smaller lots, reduces inventory, and improves customer responsiveness.

Six Big Losses

Create standardized work instructions Six categories of productivity loss that are almost universally experienced in manufacturing:

Provides a framework for attacking the most common causes of waste in manufacturing.

Breakdowns Setup/Adjustments

Small Stops Reduced Speed Startup Rejects

Production Rejects Goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Helps to ensure that goals are SMART Goals Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Specific. effective. Documented procedures for Eliminates waste by consistently manufacturing that capture best practices Standardized applying best practices. Forms a (including the time to complete each Work baseline for future improvement task). Must be living documentation activities. that is easy to change. The pace of production (e.g. Provides a simple, consistent and manufacturing one piece every 34 intuitive method of pacing production. Takt Time seconds) that aligns production with Is easily extended to provide an customer demand. Calculated as Planned efficiency goal for the plant floor Production Time / Customer Demand. (Actual Pieces / Target Pieces). A holistic approach to maintenance that focuses on proactive and preventative Creates a shared responsibility for maintenance to maximize the equipment that encourages greater Total Productive operational time of equipment. TPM involvement by plant floor workers. In Maintenance blurs the distinction between the right environment this can be very (TPM) maintenance and production by placing a effective in improving productivity strong emphasis on empowering (increasing up time, reducing cycle operators to help maintain their times, and eliminating defects). equipment. A tool used to visually map the flow of production. Shows the current and future Exposes waste in the current processes Value Stream state of processes in a way that and provides a roadmap for Mapping highlights opportunities for improvement through the future state. improvement. Makes the state and condition of Visual indicators, displays and controls manufacturing processes easily Visual Factory used throughout manufacturing plants to accessible and very clear to improve communication of information. everyone.